We were just forwarded the infographic below from Alex Hillsberg of FinancesOnline. The graphic, titled “Why Women Are The Real Power Behind Social Media,” provides some pretty interesting data. Alex told us that they dug through the Pew Research Center and Burst Media archives, and found some really distinct patterns. Here is what Alex told us in an email:

You may think that just like with many other areas of online tech men are also paving the way for the use of smartphones and tablets for social media activities, but you’d be wrong. It’s actually women who are the most influential power that will shape how Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter will adapt to future generations of mobile devices.

We researched how men and women use mobile devices and we were surprised to learn that men may be more interested the latest mobile gadgets, but it’s women who use them for online interaction with their friends and loved ones, or checking the latest gossip. The difference for tablets is especially huge.

The graphic shows some really unique insights. Not only do women use social media in general way more than men, but women are dominating the more visual networks like Pintrest and Instagram. Very interesting indeed: